Warehouse efficiency has always been a complex challenge, even before the ever-increasing volumes, skus, speed, and performance expectations businesses face today.
Historically, warehousing has also been viewed as a necessary cost center in an organization. This mindset has led to increasing pressures like budget belt-tightening, space shortages, and competition for labor.
Shrewd warehousing managers know their operation directly impacts customer satisfaction and business growth, so they’re always looking for ways to improve:
- Inventory accuracy and tracking
- Layout optimization
- Eliminating redundancies
- Communication
- Time management
- Waste reduction
- And more
As businesses adopted WMS platforms, enterprise mobility, and automatic identification solutions (like barcoding and RFID), they earned massive, positive shifts in communication and visibility. At the same time, the expansion of mobile hardware within the warehouse environment has meant that operations and IT must collaborate more closely than ever to keep pace with change and to keep the company’s data secure.
That’s why it’s vital to partner with an expert mobility service provider. Your mobility partner should ensure all mobile hardware is up-to-date, optimized, supported, and secure. The partner, in collaboration with internal IT, can focus on managing mobile devices while you focus on productivity in your distribution center.
Let’s take a closer look at the value a mobility service provider should contribute to your warehouse management system, today and well into the future.
WMS AND MOBILE HARDWARE
All warehouse operators grapple with concrete limitations of space and time. A mobility-based warehouse management system (WMS) can supercharge complex, interwoven operations like order receipt, space optimization, picking and packing, and order fulfillment. All these improvements can increase efficiency, cost savings, and employee satisfaction.Frontline mobile devices like PCs, tablets, smartphones, and barcode scanners are critical to improving warehouse efficiency at every touchpoint:
- Scheduling, receiving, inspecting, and storage of materials and goods
- Inventory counting and stock management
- Packing, loading, and shipping
- Fleet management and proof of delivery
- And much more
But effective enterprise mobility management depends on having the right devices, deployed to the right locations, in the hands of the right employees. And warehouse mobility technologies evolve at breakneck speed with new models, improved device capabilities, operating system changes, and updates, disrupting the mobility landscape and threatening to render yesterday’s systems obsolete.
So, how can outsourcing warehouse mobile device management help you stay ahead of the pack? Imagine what you could tackle without having to obsessively focus on hardware, software, operating systems, and mobile security.
OUTSOURCE YOUR WAREHOUSE MOBILITY DEVICE MANAGEMENT
Choosing to leverage an enterprise mobility services company like Barcoding will help you in a number of key areas:
- Selecting the right devices. All device specs matter — from barcode reading technology and camera capabilities to keyboard configuration and rugged durability — in addition to environmental concerns such as cold chain.
- Selecting the right operating system. The right OS is critical. With the Android operating system, warehouse operators are finding they can leverage new enterprise applications, helping them solve previous challenges. An expert can advise on how to upgrade from Windows Mobile to Android OS without disruption.
- Keeping up with constant improvements. A trusted enterprise mobility solutions partner knows how to manage the optimal refresh of device models to keep your enterprise mobility management program efficient and secure.
- Managing the MDM (like SOTI). Most companies make use of mobile device management (MDM) to troubleshoot, update, and lock down devices remotely. A trusted partner can help manage this entire process.
- Managing repairs. Sometimes a mobile device just gets broken. A good partner will provide help desk support and a streamlined approach for handing repairs.
- Staying secure. A good enterprise mobility solutions partner will help with security patches and other steps to keep your data secure.
- Managing asset details and service contracts. The management of mobile devices involves quite a lot of administrative work. A trusted partner can take this completely off your plate.
BENEFITS OF MOBILITY IN THE WAREHOUSE
Improved User Experience (UX)
Your employees’ tools should never be an impediment to getting their work done. By upgrading to new modern touchscreen devices and applications you can improve your users’ experiences and the productivity in the warehouse. New technology can also improve employee retention and attraction, because it makes their jobs easier to do.
Improving Productivity
A trusted mobility solutions partner can help you find new ways to use your devices and systems to improve efficiency and increase value-adds across operations.
Maybe it’s getting help with a site survey to improve wireless connectivity and avoid drops. It might be identifying new opportunities where mobile devices can improve through-put, accuracy, and verification.
Maximized Mobility Investment
Above all, you need to be able to trust your mobility services provider to ensure that you fully leverage mobile devices and systems to support continuous improvements that add value to organization, now and in the future.
